A powerful protein in the blood of pregnant woman could be used to find ways to treat and even prevent a wide range of age-related disorders. [ + ]

Dutch researchers have grown their own kidney tubules derived from human kidney adult stem cells and urine cells in microfluidic chips. [ + ]

Researchers have developed a novel experimental treatment that could improve the lives of people with cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [ + ]

A newly developed biophotonic system makes it possible to detect, in a non-invasive way and with a very small sample of blood, allergies to antibiotics in less than an hour. [ + ]

Researchers have discovered a potential new pharmaceutical candidate for tuberculosis, finding that the antimicrobial peptide NZX rapidly and effectively kills TB bacteria. [ + ]

Researchers have created a fact-checking program that is tackling the problem of incorrectly published biomedical research results, whether intentional or otherwise. [ + ]

Scientists have developed a nutrient-rich liquid that enables collected horse semen to live for two weeks outside the body without the need to be frozen. [ + ]

Sartorius Stedim Biotech and Novasep have entered into a collaboration agreement in the area of chromatography and single-use bioprocessing. [ + ]

The influenza vaccine may be less effective in the elderly because their B cells are less capable of producing antibodies that can adapt to protect against new viral strains. [ + ]

Scientists have successfully activated molecules located inside cell tissues using two-photon excitation from infrared light lasers, with an efficiency of almost 100%. [ + ]

The directors of Don Whitley Scientific are sad to announce that the company's founder and chairman, Dr Don Whitley, has died at age 89 after a short illness. [ + ]

A new international research laboratory, which aims to turbocharge scientific collaboration between Australia and France, is set to be established in Adelaide. [ + ]

A boy and a girl in Brisbane have been confirmed as the second set of semi-identical twins in the world — and the first to be identified by doctors during pregnancy. [ + ]

A robotic rover deployed in the most Mars-like environment on Earth, Chile's Atacama Desert, has recovered subsurface soil samples during a trial mission to find signs of life. [ + ]

A new map of the brain's immune system reveals that the phagocytes in the brain — the so-called microglia — all have the same core signature but adapt in different ways depending on their function. [ + ]